Last Flight of the Bird Man

by Dave Glaze

All Mack Davis wants to do is go to the Saskatoon Exhibition and watch that aerial daredevil the Birdman, but on the way there, he and his Chinese friend Jin are grabbed by a gang of burglars.

All Mack Davis wants to do is go to the 1912 Exhibition in Saskatoon and watch that aerial daredevil the Birdman. But on the way he and his Chinese friend Jin are grabbed by a gang of burglars. It's summer, 1912, and all of Saskatoon is excited about the Exhibition coming to town, complete with a Wild West show, and horses jumping from thirty-foot-high ramps into tanks full of water.

But the show Mackenzie wants to see is Glenn Martin, the "barnstorming" airplane pilot known as the Birdman, doing his mid-air stunts. Maybe some day, Mack thinks, he'll be a flyer himself.

First, however, he has a mystery to unravel. Something doesn't quite add up about the very inquisitive shoeshine men at Mr. Brittner's second-hand store. Mack and his Chinese friend Jin wind up locked in the basement for their sleuthing, and the criminals flee town with their loot. The only consolation is that Mack manages to save a silver model of the Birdman's plane that the thieves stole, and to return it to his hero.

As a reward, Mack gets a flight with the Birdman, and from the air, he spots the culprits stashing their ill-gotten gains just outside of town. With the help of a father and son pair of horseback riders from the Whitecap reserve, they catch the miserable band of thieves.

But there's one more mystery, and Mack Davis has missed all the clues. There is much more to his friend Jin than he knows, and he's in for the surprise of his life!

Fast-paced, full of humour and authentic historical details about the early days of a prairie city, Last Flight of the Birdman will take you on a thrilling fictional ride.

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About the Author

Dave Glaze was born in British Columbia, and has lived in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario. He lives in Saskatoon, and, for the last 25 years, has worked as a teacher, librarian, and an educational consultant.

Dave is the author of five successful Coteau juvenile novels – – the first 2 "Mac Davis" titles: The Light-Fingered Gang, & Last Flight of the Birdman, both of which have been nominated for Saskatchewan Book Awards. He also wrote the highly successful, Who Took Henry and Mr. Z? which was a finalist in the children's category of the Arthur Ellis Crime Writers awards. His critically acclaimed first novel, Pelly has been adopted for use in many schools across the country, including the entire Newfoundland education system.

Dave Glaze has spent most of his life in Saskatoon. He now spends time mentoring other writers and conducting workshops across the country.

From the author

A fascination with local history led me to create the Mackenzie Davis Files series.

Set in 1912, the books explore a boom era when thousands and thousands of people arrived in western Canada from many other places in the world. It was an exciting time and place to live. However, prejudices based in religion, language and nationality often thrived while neighbours struggled to speak to one another without a common language.

I find this mix of people and challenges sparks a lot of fiction possibilities.

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About Coteau Books

Founded in 1975 in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and currently operating out of offices in Regina, Coteau Books' mission is to publish and present to the world markets new voices and works of literary excellence from the Canadian literary community, with an emphasis on Saskatchewan and prairie writers.

Acknowledgements

Coteau Books acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities.